Electric



(No Model.)

A. OWEN. ELEGTBIG APPLIANCE FOR TRUSSES.

No. 444,599. Patented Jan. 13, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVA OWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC APPLIANCE FOR TRUSSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,599, dated January 13, 1891.

Application filed October 11, 1890. Serial No. 367,773. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALVA OWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trusses, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to providea construction of truss which shall render it readily convertible from or to an electric truss to or from a non-electric truss, thereby to obviate any necessity for taking off the truss, as is commonly done with permanently electric trusses when the current becomes uncomfortable, to prevent blistering the flesh, and permitting the use to be conveniently continued as a common or non-electric truss without removal from the body.

My invention consists to this end in the construction of the truss-pad by forming it of insulating or insulated material and providing it with a removable and adjustable cap of conducting material adapted to have connected with it a conductor leading from a pole of a suitable generator of electricity. 7

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a truss having the pad provided with myimprovement. Figs. 2 and 3are perspective views, respectively, of the cap and pad; and Fig. etis asection taken through the pad with the cap adjusted upon it, thesection being taken at the line 4: in Figs. 2 and 3 and viewed in the direction of the arrow. A is a truss, having a band r of any suitable kind, and provided at one end with a pad B. The pad illustrated is of general oval shape and formed of hard rubber, though for my purpose it may involve any desired shape and material, provided the latter be non-conductive of electricity or rendered so by insulation.

C is the cap, formed of metal and provided with means, such as the eye g, at which to permit ready attachment to and detachment from it of an insulated conducting=wire p, a clasp 0 or hook forming the direct means for the purposes stated, which I employ, and the conductor being supposed to lead from a suitable battery, which may be supported on the truss-band r, though it is not shown in the drawings, because it constitutes no part of my present invention. The form of the metal cap C best suitingit to my purpose of an electrode is that of the pad 13, when the size should be such as to adapt it to fit snugly over the exposed surface of the pad or the entire portion thereof, which is adjusted into contact with the body, a prime requirement being that it be readily adjustable and removable. I do not, however, wish to be considered as excluding from within the spirit of my invention even a strip of metal adapted to be readily fitted upon and separated from the pad.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An insulating truss-pad B, provided with an adj ustable and removable metal cap C, having means for connecting with it a conductor 19, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A truss-pad 13, formed of insulating material and provided with a removable and adj ustable metal cap O, conforming in shape to and snugly fitting over the surface of the pad to be brought into contact with the body,and having means for connecting with it a conductor 12, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a truss A, the combination, with the band 1", of a pad B, of insulating material, and a metal cap C, conforming in shape to and snugly fitting over the surface of the pad to be brought into contact with the body, and thereby adapted to be readily adjusted in place and removed, and an eye g on the cap to receive a clasp 0 or hook for connecting a conductor 19 with the cap, substantially as described.

ALVA OWEN.

In presence of J. W. DYRENFORTH, M. J. FEosr. 

